The described invention relates in general to systems, devices, and methods for detecting various analytes in biological samples or other sample types, and more specifically to a biosensor-based system for detecting and identifying analytes of interest in real time based on the emission of a detectable signal when the biosensor reacts with an analyte of interest in a sample being tested.
In generic terms, a biosensor is a system or device for the detection of an analyte that combines a sensitive biological component with a physicochemical detector component. The components of a typical biosensor system include a biological element, a transducer or detector element, and associated electronics or signal processors that display test results in a meaningful and useful manner. The biological element typically includes biological material such as tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids, and the like that may be created by known biological engineering processes. The transducer or detector element works in a physicochemical manner (e.g., optical, piezoelectric, and/or electrochemical) that transforms the signal resulting from the interaction of the analyte with the biological element into another signal that can be more easily measured and quantified. Biosensors originated from the integration of molecular biology and information technology (e.g., microcircuits, optical fibers, etc.) to qualify or quantify biomolecule-analyte interactions such as antibody-antigen interactions. Considering that there is great demand for rapid, sensitive, easy-to-handle, and cost-effective detection tools for detecting infectious agents, pathogens or/and toxins in food (see, for example, Mead et al., Food Related Illness and Death in the United States, Emerging Infectious Diseases; Vol. 5, No. 5, September-October 1999 (607-625), which is incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety), there is an ongoing need for the utilization of biosensors in real-time, field-portable devices and instruments for the detection and identification of infectious agents, pathogenic microorganisms, toxins, and other contaminants in foods and many other items.